Toronto housing market expected to excel

Toronto is proving predictions by economists to be correct, which stated that the city’s housing market will excel due to plummeting oil prices and the historical low levels of interest rates.

New figures from the Toronto Real Estate Board show home sales jumped 6.1% in the Greater Toronto Area in January compared to a year earlier. The area’s average prices also soared 4.9%.

Toronto’s new listings also went up 9.5% compared to a year earlier.

The report credits Toronto’s growth mainly to sales in the outside of the city, particularly condos which gained 6% additional sales. Sales of detached and semi-detached houses, however, plunged at more than 2%.

Sales of townhouses also dramatically dipped nearly 10%.

Instead, homebuyers from last month preferred the suburbs, giving condos sales a boost of 23%. Detached home sales in these areas also enjoyed a 10% increase.

This is the second month that Toronto showed strong growth in its housing market, even as winter is considered the slowest time of year for home sales. December sales increased by nearly 10% compared to a year earlier while average prices went up 7%.

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